Phantom's of the Past
by baby-kitsune9
Summary: she was the girl king of the old world, separated from the other's by death and fate until Yunan found her and brought her to the new world to assume her rightful place. Put under the protection of Sinbad, can Aladdin live up to the expectations of other's and become the king she once was? Fem Aladdin/Kouen pairing. Rated M.
1. Chapter 1

It all began with a vision.

A dark void, endless in it's suffocating darkness and in it's great unfathomable depths. He could _see_ and _hear_ the deaths of millions upon million. Each voice crying out as suddenly as it was silenced. Each sound of fear and terror churning in his brain. The sound and sight of each person's suffering causing his vision to blur with tears of utter helplessness and anguish.

And then the vision altered.

It was small at first. Subtle in it's hinting that his destiny as well as the destiny of all people ever born could and quite possibly would be altered for all time.

He could see it- no her- he could see her so clearly. _Her._ The one who would unite all nations.

Her aura was bright. Shining.

 _Radiant_ in it's brilliance. Much like the rhuk that surrounded her.

Almost as if she were meant to be there. In this dangerous new world, at the epicenter of everything, instead of the world that lay just beyond the Sacred Palace.

She was alone.

An anomaly in the world of her birth.

An extraordinary existence even among her own people.

People who shunned and ridiculed her for being what she was. But he had fallen in love with her instantly. So much so that he spent a great deal of time trapped within his own visions of her just so that he could see her while trying to think of a way to bring her to his to where he was.

He could do it. He had the power and untapped strength and knowledge of eons past at his fingertips. Much like she did. Only his memories hadn't been tampered with and locked away.

He was a magi, one of the most powerful beings in the world. Just one of four. And as a sorcerer of creation there was no true limit to what he could do if he put his mind to it.

He watched her for years. Silently marveling in all of her achievements as she grew in strength and form until she reached her sixteenth year. And by then he knew that he could watch her no more. Not when he could act instead.

By now he had already figured out how to bring her to this world, far, far, far beyond the Sacred Palace where she had been trapped for so long within another, parallel world. And his heart ached that it had to be so but he knew that she needed to be there for the moment.

After all, fate could not be altered. Especially not hers.

For her to appear in this world, she would have to perish in her own and her soul would have to return to the Sacred Palace where he would then retrieve it and bring her into his world and breathe new life into her newly formed body. And while for most that should have been enough- with her it wouldn't be.

He would have to leave a faint trace of his own being within her to anchor her to this world. However before he could do anything he first needed to secure a place for her to live and people to care for her since he knew that she would likely hate him before he was finished with her.

And with that knowledge firmly in mind, Yunan grabbed his staff and used teleportation magic to appear in the palace of his king's candidate, Sinbad.

The king of the flourishing new country of Sindria, and the main operator behind the Seven Sea's Alliance.

His feet lightly touching the pristine white marble of the palace floor, Yunan took a moment to look around in wide eyed wonder. Finding it both strangely amusing and just plain peculiar that even after all these years, Sinbad could _still_ surprise him.

The palace was as beautiful as his visions had shown it to be.

Truly his king's candidate was an impressive man of great wealth, influence and cunning. And he ran his country as any fair ruler would. Which is what made Sinbad and his people ideal for his plan. After all he highly doubted that the man would leave him twisting in the wind after all of the times he had helped him.

Quietly walking through the maze like halls, he got lost several times and had to finally resort to a spell to locate the man in question. And after walking for what seemed like forever, it was about damned time too.

The event would be happening soon.

And he needed everything and everyone in place _immediately_.

Pausing in the open doorway to the large study where Sinbad was currently conducting some last minute business transactions by pouring over some requests from merchants that had come to dock at his harbor, the man chanced to look up and notice him standing there looking frazzled and exhausted before quickly jumping to his feet with a startled yell.

"Yunan!" The golden eyed king said in shock, surprise and if the magi wasn't mistaken just a little bit of giddiness. The blond smiled at his king's candidate, supposing that it was okay for the man to feel such things as he slowly made his way into the room, and paused only long enough to turn and make a peculiar motion with his hand- causing the large solid wooden doors to swing shut and lock.

Sinbad looked from the door to him and for a moment seemed slightly alarmed but he quickly masked the feeling and greeted the magi with a warm smile. "How have you been my friend?"

"I've been well- But Sinbad I didn't come here to visit. I need to ask a favor of you."

Sinbad blinked at the magi, his smile faltering somewhat but not quite completely as he crossed his arms over his chest and slowly nodded his head and stated, "Ask it and I will do what I can."

Yunan smiled at the man. "I wish to ask you to take care of someone for me."

"Someone?" Sinbad questioned with a small frown as he tilted his head to the side just a bit. His golden eyes studying the magi as he hummed in response to the question.

"A girl." Yunan said almost awkwardly. His light green eyes flickering from Sinbad's golden stare.

"A girl?"

"Will you please stop parroting things back to me Sinbad. If I wished merely to hear myself speak I would have found a bird to speak too. This is a serious matter and I need you to treat it as one," Yunan said, his expression fierce. Sinbad put his hands up and took a step back as the magi brushed by him and made his way over to a chair and sat down with a sigh before saying, "Forgive me Sinbad. But I do not have time to waste with pleasantries and the like. As I said, this is a serious matter."

"I see." Sinbad said as he moved to go back to his seat behind his desk and sat down and folded his hands on top of the dark wood as he said, "Tell me everything."

"That is just the thing. I can't tell you everything. All that I can tell you is that I need you to take care of a girl for me."

"This sounds strangely like some sort of set up." Sinbad said softly, more to himself than the magi.

Yunan chuckled, though the sound was a little too dark to be one of actual amusement. "Yes, I suppose it does sort of sound that way. But I can assure you that it isn't a set up. The girl that I need you to take care of is _very_ important."

"Important?" Sinbad asked curiously. The magi merely nodded his head, his soft blond hair slipping over one of his shoulders.

"Yes. Very much so."

"Is she a magi?"

"No," Yunan denied, careful not to speak the denial too quickly nor to slow as he went on to explain. "But she is strangely unique. So much so that I have spent the past few years doing nothing but watching her. She's a good girl. Kind, compassionate, funny, loyal... She is intelligent. Strong and as fierce as any warrior. I'm afraid that I have grown rather attached to her."

Sinbad chuckled in amusement. "It would certainly seem so."

"Sinbad, I cannot stress enough just how much I need this girl to live..." Which was true. Yunan couldn't say just how desperately he needed the girl alive. However he knew better than to tell Sinbad all of his secrets. Especially concerning her.

If he did it would be a mistake of epic proportions and would likely cause the ancient and painful history of the girl to repeat itself.

"Oh?" Sinbad said in confusion, wishing that Yunan would at least tell him _something_ to slightly appease his curiosity aside from giving him a vague idea of what should be done with his possibly soon-to-be guest. "So there is really nothing that you can tell me about what makes this girl so important?"

 _"No."_ Yunan said more firmly his light green eyes darkening to a stormy emerald that held a slight hint of malice within their depths. It was then that Sinbad understood that he should ask Yunan no more questions since it seemed that the normally placid magi's temper was beginning to surface.

That and he had the sneaky suspicion that if he asked Yunan anything else the magi just might turn him into something... _horrid_.

Kind of like the time he had been turned into a monkey by Ju-dar for a month before the spell finally broke.

He still had nightmares about that.

However his grooming habits had never been better. But that was nothing to brag about really.

"When should I expect this young lady?"

"Three days. You should have three days to get everything finalized before she appears."

"Appears?" Sinbad asked with a slight narrowing of his gold eyes before he even realized that the question had slipped from his mouth.

Yunan thinned his lips and made a low, feral growling sound and he brought his staff down on the marble floor with a loud clack-ing sound causing Sin to jump slightly in his seat and make a small, nervous sounding, "Eep." as he eyed the blond warily.

"No more questions Sin. I mean it. Aladdin will be here in three days. Be prepared."

"Y-Yes. Of course." Sin stammered as the magi then turned and then headed for the door of the study before stopping to tell Sinbad from over his shoulder, "I'll be in Sindria for the next few days to ensure that everything goes smoothly. So I'll be here when Aladdin appears."

"How long will you stay?"

"Long enough to dissuade you from trying anything behind my back." The magi sniped at him before leaving the nervous king behind to think over what needed to be done.


	2. Chapter 2

Alice- _Aladdin_ \- Maes walked through the hallway of her school noting the way everyone from the teachers, staff, and students of her school all gave her a wide berth as she began to walk past them. All of them either flinching or glaring hatefully at her as she went to her locker and pulled out her swim suit and favorite book while making a valiant attempt to ignore them.

Not that it worked much.

The whispering was starting up again.

It always did. Ever since the day she had made the mistake of showing some kids in her foster home her power when she was still a young a naive child. Back then, she hadn't known that she was the only person that could do _actual_ honest to god magic.

And she had only figured it out after watching Disney's Aladdin and noting that one of the spells was fairly basic and easy to use. She hadn't known how she had known that, merely that the knowledge was there. Dwelling in some foreign part of her mind that she tended to, for the most part, ignore since it usually got her into trouble of some kind.

However she hadn't been able to ignore it this time.

And she had paid a heavy toll for her foolishness.

Because of it, she had been sent back to the orphanage where she was deemed unadoptable despite her pleasant personality and not too soon afterwards the building had been shot up by religious fanatics trying to kill her. However instead of harming her, they had killed thirteen kids and two of the adults that ran the place.

After that, she had been thrown out of the building that had been the only home that she had ever really had and from there her life had gone down hill dramatically.

The fanatics had hunted her everyday.

If she was seen by them on the streets, they would whip out guns and knives and attempt to chase her down so that they could finish what they started when she had been seven in a half.

And since then she had been hunted, attacked, hospitalized, nearly killed a number of times- but most of all there had been over thirty seven people who had died because they had simply been at the wrong place at the wrong time. And because of that- people hated her very existence.

They blamed her for the actions of the fanatics and bought into the propaganda spread by the malicious assholes about her being a demon, or the spawn of Satan and such.

Closing her locker, she stuffed her swim suit into her book bag and then turned when she heard a particularly hateful person say, "Look at the bitch- Can you believe that she's never been arrested for all the people who have lost their lives even though it's all her fault that they're dead?"

Casting a slightly bored look in the direction of the speaker, she was vaguely amused to see that it was Cindy Heartfeld. The most popular girl in school.

 _She's only popular because of the size of her tits_. _After all, she isn't that pretty. Or smart._ Aladdin thought to herself as she sneered at the blond causing her to pale under her violet eyed stare as she brushed past her to head towards the building where the pool was.

Due to the high death rate of those around her, the school rarely did anything about her coming's and goings- giving her free reign to move about as she pleased as long as there wasn't too many people around. Which was why she liked the pool.

In fact she spent a great deal of time there either swimming or simply reading or napping.

It was the one place in all the damned school where she could go to actually be alone. Only this time she didn't realize that she wouldn't be as alone as she believed herself to be.

The wheels of fate were beginning to turn once more.

(*****************************************************************************************************************)

Three days later-

"Is everything ready?" Sinbad asked his advisor Ja-far.

The platinum blond bowed his head slightly as he calmly replied, "Yes, everything is ready for your guest's arrival. Do you know when said person should be here?" He asked curiously.

"I'm not sure exactly. Yunan was somewhat cryptic when she said that she would appear three days from when we spoke." Sinbad said as he pushed aside the paperwork that he had been looking over. It was hopeless for him to bother with it right now anyways since he couldn't concentrate.

"Appear?" Ja-far muttered to himself as he tilted his head to the side a little bit as he considered the way that Sinbad had just spoken. "Is that exactly what Yunan said?"

"Strangely, almost word for word." Sinbad said with a tired sigh as he laced his fingers together and rested his chin on his hands. Looking very much like he would like nothing more than to take a nice long, restful nap or something.

It was that deceptively lazy manner of his that usually got all of them into mischief. Ja-far thought as he eyed his king warily.

"And Yunan? Where is he?"

"Well the last time I checked he was in the room that you ordered prepared for your guest. But he may have moved on from there since the last time I checked in on him."

Sinbad hummed and was about to respond when there was a loud rap of knuckles against his study door a mere moment before it opened and one of his general's poked his head in and said, "Sinbad- Yunan is outside and something is happening in the courtyard."

Almost as if the news was the most interesting thing in the world to him, Sinbad was automatically up on his feet and racing out of his study with his advisor trailing at a more subdued pace behind him.

(*********************************************************************************************************************************************)

This was it. Yunan thought sadly as he was sucked into another vision of Aladdin. His rhuk going wild around him with anxiety as he watched the events unfold and felt a righteous anger building up inside of him on her behalf.

She didn't deserve this.

But it would happen anyways, because it always did.

Aladdin, the girl king meant to unite the world and all it's nations and their people- was about to be murdered. Again...

 _Why wasn't dying once enough?_ Yunan wondered as tears slipped down his pale cheeks unchecked.

(**********************************************************************************************************************************************)

Aladdin was in the middle of finishing her tenth lap in the pool when she felt a weird stinging, burning sensation in her side and lifted her head up out of the water to take a breath, never realizing that the water was stained red.

Shaking her head to get the water out of her eyes so that she could look and see what was wrong with her side, she completely missed the small angry group of boys with small semi automatic guns in hand, standing barely twenty feet away from the edge of the pool taking aim at her.

Once the water was out of her eyes, she glanced down towards her burning side and blinked as she noted that the color of the water was no longer clear.

It was red.

Like... There was a weird popping sound followed by another burning, stinging sensation- this time on her left cheek. Reaching up slightly, she lightly touched the area to rub it and hissed at the pain she felt that had her jerking her hand away from her face to stare at her finger tips before she realized just what had happened.

And by then it was too late.

There was another popping sound followed by another burning, stinging sensation- this time in the vicinity of her heart and she suddenly felt as if she couldn't breathe. She tried. Dear god, she tried. She fought and struggled as hard as her dying body would allow.

But it didn't matter how hard she tried to draw breath, the damage was done. She had been shot in the heart and had seconds, perhaps minutes left before she perished. Panic began to seep into her mind, terror taking hold and pushing aside the horror and helplessness that she felt.

Two minutes later she was floating face down in the pool, her eyes still wide open and staring sightlessly.


	3. Chapter 3

Sinbad and Ja-far had just stepped out of the palace and into the courtyard just as Yunan began to move towards the middle of the courtyard with a linen blanket draped over one arm and began reciting a spell that Sinbad had never heard before.

Some of the palace guards and the other generals came tearing out of the palace- not knowing what was going on- and automatically went to surround Sin in a protective manner as the courtyard was suddenly engulfed in a blinding light for a moment, causing everyone to either winch and shut their eyes or to attempt to shield them so that they wouldn't be blinded.

And then just as suddenly as it was there, the light was gone and there, hovering about ten or so feet from the ground was what appeared to be a person with long blue-black hair.

As Yunan carefully used his magic to maneuver Aladdin to where he needed her to be so that he could wrap her body in the blanket to preserve her modesty since her bathing suit left little to the imagination in the chest, hips, buttocks, and leg area's (and there were perverts *cough* Sinbad *cough* running amok) which probably wouldn't be good for Aladdin's innocence- while simultaneously healing the worst of her wounds, so that if anyone asked _why_ he had insisted she be protected, he would have a little something of a cover story to excuse his lack of information from when he had spoken to Sinbad before.

At least until he could come up with a decent lie about _who_ she was to cover up just _what_ she really was so that Sinbad wouldn't be tempted to try and imprison her and use her against her will for his own purposes.

After all, she was both a king and the most powerful magi in all of creation.

Not a weapon of mass murder or genocide to be used as others deemed necessary.

Cradling her wrapped up dripping wet form in his arms, he muttered the healing spell that would mend a majority of her wounds as he slowly pushed some of his ruhk into her body to help speed up her healing process. In much the same way he had the first time she had died.

The healing spell he used would give her a part of his natural life span which he didn't mind sharing again since he was positively ancient anyways compared to the slip of a girl in his arms. Besides, he figured that the longer her life span was, the more good she could do.

The spell wasn't even finished when he detected the first hints of life returning to her with an almost full body spasm that may have caused him to drop her if he hadn't been expecting it.

Next came the breath and the slight stirring of her heart beginning flutter and then beat again. After that she inhaled and coughed several times and let out a soft whimper, causing him to end the spell since he knew she was still in agony and likely couldn't take any more of his ruhk at the moment.

He would have the next few days to allow her to mend on her own before he could give her more of it.

Turning towards the palace, Yunan barely paid any attention to the people around him as he carried her forward and didn't even bother to stop as he called for Yamriha, Ja-far and Sinbad to follow him as he made his way towards the room that Sinbad had prepared for her.

Once in the room, Yunan carefully deposited his burden on the large carved and polished white wood bed and then sat down next to her on the edge of the bed as he began pulling a salve and some clean linen bandages from his travel pack.

They were the same ones that he generally used for himself when he became injured during his travel's, which was pretty frequently if one dared to ask those who had ever run into him.

For a magi he was a fairly clumsy person.

Or at least that was what Yunan led others to believe anyways. After all, he was just one of the many, many people who were meant to protect Aladdin. And besides it was better for him if people underestimated him in the bad situations that were already bound to arise off and on from this point on.

No one needed to know that he wasn't just a magi, but a special creature created to be Aladdin's general as well. Just like no one needed to know that he had fanilis blood coursing through his veins that gave his magic a very big 'oomph' when used all out.

But at this very moment, as far as others were concerned he was just a human magi with mediocre power and reserves of ruhk.

Nothing terribly impressive or special.

Whereas Aladdin, was a creator of worlds.

The world they ere currently in for instance was the one that Aladdin had sent all living things to so that they could live, procreate and do what they were meant to do when the old world had fallen to the being of destruction.

Absently tugging some of the blanket out of the way so that he could analyze what was left of her injuries and dress them, he completely forgot that he was handling/undressing a young girl with Sinbad, Yamriha and Ja-far in the room up until a hand came out of nowhere and smacked him right off of the bed where he lay at Sinbad's feet, slightly dazed as he heard Yamriha's screech of feminine outrage, "What the hell is wrong with you, you perverted mage?! Why are you undressing this kid in front of us?!"

Yunan remained silent as Sin and Ja-far both looked down at him, both men were blushing when it hit him.

 _Oh right._

Girls didn't generally undress in front of men unless they were lovers or married or were in the sex trade. How could he have possibly forgotten those details? He rarely forgot other things that were just as important.

Still laying on the floor where Yamriha had knocked him, the magi didn't vocally reply, he was simply too damned embarrassed too. So instead he held up the small jar of salve and bandages, which Ja-far quietly stepped forward and took from him and handed over to Yamriha before backing away from the bed again to allow the woman to see to the girl.

 _After_ , of course, she chased them out of the room.


	4. Chapter 4

"So," Sinbad said as Yam slammed the door closed behind her, after giving the three of them a dark glare that promised pain if any of them so much as tried to enter again before she was done tending and changing the girl's clothing. "That was Aladdin? I didn't expect the person you wished me to take care of to be so young." Sin said as he cast a strange calculating glance in Yunan's direction as Ja-far partially hid his face behind his robe sleeve and watched the interaction between the two men quietly.

To be perfectly honest, he wouldn't trust Sinbad to be around the girl without trying to seduce her. And frankly he was seriously questioning Yunan's judgement here.

True the girl would be safe in Sindria, and even in the palace.

Sinbad wasn't likely to try anything while the magi was underfoot to punish him if he tried anything with her. However once Yunan left... That would be a different matter altogether.

Ja-far inwardly sighed.

It looked like he would be going behind Sinbad's back to assign a proper guardian for the girl to guard her chastity from his king's grubby, womanizing hands.

Although if whoever he picked to watch the girl and keep her from Sinbad's clutches turned him down, then it looked as if he may be stuck babysitting. _Again..._

Although, babysitting a girl their young guests age might not be too terrible now that he really got to thinking about it. He may have to speak to Yunan about some things without Sin present before he made big and potentially, any life altering decisions.

"So her name is Alice?" Sinbad asked, his voice drawing Ja-far out of his thoughts with an inquisitive tilt of his head before his king went on to ask. "But if her name is Alice, why do you call her Aladdin?"

"Because both are names that she responds to."

"I see." Sin said before then asking, "So...why was she wounded?"

"Hn, so you noticed that. I wondered why you didn't ask before now." Yunan muttered almost to himself as he frowned. His expression seemingly thoughtful as he glanced at the door to Aladdin's room. It would be just another minute or so before the door opened and they would be allowed back inside.

Now paying absolute attention, Ja-far and Sin waited for the magi to tell them why the girl had been injured.

"As I said three days ago, Aladdin is a very important person. So important that many fear her and have been trying to claim her life since she was merely a small child." Yunan said before pausing for a moment to gather his thoughts and then continuing on. "Back in her home country, there was a group a fanatics who based their action on a religion that was fairly common practice- To them, Aladdin's life contradicts their ways. And that makes her dangerous to them. So they sought to destroy Aladdin. However many innocent people around her were killed instead. Not because Aladdin did anything to make it so, they were merely collateral damage in the conflict between the fanatics and Aladdin."

"Because of this, many others began to see Aladdin as a omen of misfortune and just before she appeared here...she was attacked and mortally wounded. However I managed to heal a majority of her wounds and simply wished to see how bad they were now before Yamriha knocked me back off of the bed and began screeching at me." Yunan said as the door to the room opened and he quickly pasted on a sweet, disarming smile as Yamriha poked her head out and told them that it was okay now to come back in.

Once back inside of the room, Yunan was secretly pleased with Yamriha's work as he went to stand next to Aladdin's bed and got a good look at her now that she was dry, her injuries treated and her more revealing clothing, changed in lieu of a sleeping gown of soft amethyst with little silver buttons.

Her long waist length blue-black hair had been brushed and braided and she was sleeping rather soundly. Something that wasn't unusual for someone in her position, after all she had _died_ earlier today.

Sleeping a dreamless sleep was her mind's best coping mechanism.

"Status report, Yam." Sinbad demanded in a soft tone.

"Her condition is stable. Her wounds... they looked as if they had been partially healed by a spell," She said as she cast a weird look in the blond magi's direction. "But were at one time mortal. Specifically the one centered in her chest. My guess is that before the healing spell was used, her heart must have suffered damage."

"But she will be alright?"

"Yes, sire. She will."

"Very well, I suppose that we should leave her to sleep then." Sinbad said.


	5. Chapter 5

Aladdin slept for a little over a week. Which wasn't all that surprising given the trauma that she had suffered before appearing in Sindria- however Yunan was a little bit perturbed by the length of time that she slept. Though he used it well.

Spending more time than not in her bedroom either finishing up giving her some of his ruhk, or alternating between healing her wounds the rest of the way and simply sending images and thoughts about various lands and their people into her mind, or simply using a little bit of his magic to fashion things familiar to her.

Like clothing- Aside from what Sinbad had had prepared for her, Yunan had used a small amount of his power to make her cotton sweaters in white, cream, blue, amethyst, black, violet and silver and gold. He had made cute little sleeveless knee/ankle length summer dresses with embroidery or lace with floral designs around the collar.

He had made her jeans- the way she liked them- with holes in one knee and looking a little worn.

He then made her some shorts complete with spandex leggings that she could wear underneath them since she hated really showing any amount of skin. Followed by various kinds of *ahem* lady things to wear under everything.

He made bras, and matching panties- enough to last her a lifetime.

After which he then promptly hid everything so that Sinbad wouldn't ever, _ever_ find it.

After that he had spent some time creating three or four formal gowns, all of various length and color and design. And then went nuts making her several pairs of slip on flats, tennis shoes, three pairs of combat boots (one white, ankle length and two pairs of black, one of which had black fur around the top)several pairs of heels and cute sandals with little two inch wide heels with little ribbon like straps.

He made sure to make the heels small, no bigger than three inches, on account that he worried that she may actually manage to fall and break her neck since she was still fairly awkward.

After all of that was done he sat himself down and made her a stereo that would play without electricity of batteries, complete with a CD player. And then since he'd more or less backed himself into a corner, he then created a multitude of Cd's for her by her favorite artists and bands. And then added to her collection with some rhythms and blues, jazz, Motown, soul, punk, and of course- Disney soundtracks since he knew that she still favored such things even for someone her age.

Which of course included Aladdin's soundtrack, Frozen, Mulan, and Tarzan aside from the Alice in Wonderland CD's.

He had just finished with the last CD and decided to create a shelf or two for her to put her things in to keep her room neat and tidy like she liked to when he heard a faint sound coming from the bed. Breaking his concentration half way through the shelf's creation.

Causing him to wind up with several wooden planks strewn about him as he turned his head to check on his king, and found her sitting up on the bed rubbing at her eyes with her delicate little hands. Her long dark hair had long past come loose of her braid and now hung over both of her slender shoulders in a cascade of soft waves and curls around her lovely face.

Sucking in a breath, Yunan sat there silently simply allowing himself the small pleasure of being the first to see her awaken.

It wasn't a sight that he had beheld much in the other world nor in his visions.

He had felt too much as if he were intruding on something private and so had steered clear of the hours when Aladdin tended to take her rest and awaken herself to face the dawn.

But now, here- it didn't feel like such a big or terrible thing to see her like this.

With her defenses down and somewhat unaware of his presence. Despite the fact that he was barely twenty feet away from her.

 _I should send for Sinbad before she becomes too aware._ He thought as he brought his hands up to his mouth and used his ruhk to create a bird and then sent it from the room via the window. After all, no one will be able to get near her once the confusion and fear finally set in. And it would take far more time than absolutely necessary to let her calm down once that happened.

(**************************************************************************************************************************************)

Sinbad was in the middle of a meeting with his generals, making an attempt to inform each of them about Yunan's young friend and just why she would be staying in the palace with them all when he saw his advisor perk up slightly and then heard Ja-far say, "Hey isn't that one of Yunan's messenger's?" as something white and glowing fluttering landed on his desk in front of him.

Blinking at the little glowing, fluttering thing. It took a second or so for the little things presence and meaning to sink into his mind, but when it finally did- Sinbad was up on his feet and quickly making a beeline for the study door with the others quick on his heels.

With the exception of course of Hinahoho, whom had long since learned to slow down and take small steps when following his king. Mainly because the last time he had forgotten, he had accidentally mowed Sinbad down and their king had just about spent two months in bed healing from the broken bones and such.

So naturally he tended to stay back and steer clear of the possibility of another situation such as that occurring. Which was why he was one of the last to file out of the room after Masrur and Sharrkan.

The walk to the room of their king's guest was a short one.

And of course none of them expected to find the girl up on her feet, with her back to him, looking out of the window located some feet from her bed.

Yunan stood several feet from her, his green eyes flickered to Sin and his general's the moment that they each entered the room before quickly flickering back to the girl.

Sin took a moment to study her before deciding to go ahead and speak. "Ah, you're awake now. How are you feeling miss?" He asked only to be ignored. Frowning for a moment he looked at Yunan questioningly only to get this weird little shoulder shrug motion from the magi. Before deeming him absolutely useless here.

Clearing his throat awkwardly, he tried again. This time causing the girl to barely turn her head to look at him for a second with her eerie looking violet colored eyes before turning back away from him again. Apparently dismissing him and his generals in lieu of checking out the scenery.

It took several minutes of uncomfortable silence before the girl finally asked in a small slightly frightened tone of voice as she turned away from the window again to meet Sinbad's eyes, "W-Where am I?"


	6. Chapter 6

Sinbad and his general's watched the girl somewhat warily as he informed the girl of where she was only to see that the name of their country didn't seem familiar to her. In fact after asking several questions of her, she didn't seem to know much of anything at all.

She didn't even recall her name or age!

Let alone where she from, how she got to Sindria or anything else for that matter.

It was around the time that Sinbad had finally finished grilling her that Yunan stepped forward with some clothing in his hands and pressed the items into her chest until she slowly lifted her arms from her sides and took the bundle from him, and said in a very gentle and coaxing tone of voice, "Here. You've been resting for almost a little over a week now. Why don't you use the bathroom over there, through that door." Yunan then pointed and waited for Aladdin to turn her head to see where he was pointing before continuing on. "And go bathe and change your clothing. I bet by the time you return someone will have brought some food and if you would like someone to keep you company while you eat- I'm sure that Sinbad and his friends can arrange for that. Hn?"

Deciding that she would rather not have to stand there in the presence of so many strangers for any longer than she had already, especially while wearing such a- well what she considered a very flimsy looking nightgown- she subtly nodded her head in silent agreement with Yunan's idea and then cast a quick look in Sinbad's direction and tried to give him a nice, polite smile before walking off since she didn't want to be rude.

But her smile came out a little more like a winch or at least it felt like it to her.

However the golden eyed man said nothing as he allowed her to slowly brush past him before turning to Yam and Pitsi and softly asking them if they could please go and make sure that the girl found everything that she needed for her bath since it was obvious that she had yet to actually manage to explore the room that he had had prepared for her.

And once the two were gone from the room, he turned his sights on Yunan and all but snapped at the magi in anger.

"What. Did. You. Do. To. That. Girl?" Sinbad bit out the words from between clenched teeth as he glared daggers at the blond male standing across from him.

Yunan fidgeted for a moment, his mind weighing the pros and cons of bothering to explain himself and just what had happened to Aladdin's memory when he finally decided to answer the glowering man knowing that if he ceased asking questions about things that Aladdin couldn't remember then she would have an somewhat easier and less distressful time adjusting to her new life.

"It was necessary Sin." Yunan said in a small voice, sounding rather like a guilty child being lectured for getting into trouble by his father or something.

"How was erasing everything she had ever known necessary?" Sinbad all but shouted at him, albit quietly so as not to bring the women out of the other room to see what was going on.

"Because I pulled her from the Sacred Palace and she hasn't exactly known a lot of _nice_ , Sin." Yunan snipped back causing the king to blink and then frown a little as he waited for him to continue with his explanation.

Yunan's prior anxiety melting away into something else. Something much like outrage as he finally continued speaking.

"All her former life was, Sin, was pain and sorrow and death and agony. All she had ever known was coldness and betrayal. Fear and terror. How could I stand by and watch her suffer further and self destruct because of it when her life is so important? I told you that I need her to survive."

"And those things along with being forcibly pulled form the Sacred Palace have created a great and terrible trauma within her mind and heart. A normal person, no matter how strong willed, would have been driven insane by now. Besides, with no memory of anything, she _should_ be able to accept her new home more easily." Yunan finally said with a tired sigh as Sinbad studied him silently for a few moments, taking in everything that the magi had just said with a frown.

If what Yunan had just said was true...then the girl had been- He didn't get to finish that thought before Yam and Pitsi finally returned, followed by Aladdin, now dressed in a pair of jeans and a black sweater with the sleeves rolled up a little bit to compensate for the humidity.

Her long dark hair was still damp from apparently not really trying to dry it before she had left the bathroom, and hung well past her waist and stopping short of almost brushing the back of her knees.

Yunan cast Sinbad a quick, stormy looking glare that promised many terrible things befalling him if he brought up the subject of Aladdin's memory loss again and then gave the girl a sweet smile when she stopped a few feet shot of himself, Sinbad and the rest of them and seemed to be trying to think of what to do now.

Chuckling softly at her, Yunan waved a hand and conjured a table, some chairs and some food and drinks and waited for her to make a move. When it became clear to him that she really didn't know what to do now. Was she supposed to say something? Smile again? Or just go and sit down to eat?

Come to think of it she was sort of hungry.

But she didn't want to be/seem rude.

"It's alright Alice," The blond that had yet to introduce himself to her said kindly. "No one here will think you rude if you go and sit down to eat. After all, you _are_ hungry."

She studied him for a moment and then turned her head slightly to look at Sinbad and simply, to Sin, seemed to be mulling something over in her mind when he heard Yunan suddenly growl in an irritated tone, "She's waiting for permission, Sinbad."

"Hn? Oh, yes. Come little one, you should try choking something down- OW!" Sinbad said politely when Yunan hit him on the shin with his staff, causing the man to yelp and jump around in place as he rubbed his injured leg and shot the magi a quick glare before demanding. "What in the nine hells did you do that for?"

"Choke something down. Sin. When telling someone to eat using those words you sound like a barbarian." Yunan snipped as Ja-far stepped forward and politely introduced himself and then took Aladdin's hand in his and gave a gentle tug in the direction of the table and food that Yunan had conjured.

His king and the magi could continue their bickering, as long as they did it far from him, his friends and fellow generals and the girl.

Besides, dinner and a show was always good to use for bonding purposes.

Right?


	7. Chapter 7

Sinbad and Yunan continued to bicker on for about ten minutes after Ja-far had ushered the girl over to the table heavily laden with different foods ranging from cooked/raw vegetables, to perfectly seasoned and cooked fish/chicken, sweet breads, fresh butter, several different cheeses and some sliced tropical fruits and seated himself across from her and then waited for the rest of the general's to come and seat themselves.

Masrur deciding to sit on one side of the girl and Pitsi grabbing the seat on her other side while flashing a cheeky grin at Sharrkan whom growled in annoyance at the tiny woman and then sauntered off to seat himself on the other side of the table.

From the way the swordsman was beginning to act, he must have apparently already thought of Alice as a potential new conquest.

Ja-far would have to be sure that he changed his mind before the day was done since he doubted that Sinbad or Yunan would like it very much if the man started something with the girl when he had absolutely no intention of doing ending unless she wound up with child.

And he seriously doubted that Yunan _could_ intimidate the swordsman into doing the honorable thing by her if that happened, and even if he _did_ somehow manage- it would probably throw the whole palace into chaos for months after said event took place.

Not that it mattered much, but...from simply observing the girl as she was right now, he highly doubted that he had very much to worry over since she didn't seem very consciouness of the fact that there were any men present at the moment.

So maybe he was worried about nothing.

Sharrkan propped his elbow on the table and gave the girl a once over as Pitsi finished fixing her plate for her and then waited until she picked up her fork before saying, "Did it hurt when you fell?"

The girl paused with her fork half way to her mouth and slowly lowered it back to her plate as she gave the swordsman her attention. Which in Ja-far's opinion only seemed to make Sharrkan's flirtatious personality even worse as he reached across the table and was about to caress the girl's face when she shrank back from his hand, her eyes wide and panicked in her pale face.

And just before he could touch her even the slightest bit, Masrur snagged his wrist and gave it a painful squeeze in warning. Causing the man to yelp and automatically back off as the fanilis then used only a fingertip against the underside of her wrist to maneuver her arm back up into place where it had been before Sharrkan had interrupted her and said very softly, yet firmly.

"Eat."

Upon which the girl began to do as he said, albit a little bit more slowly than a normal person might. Possibly because she hadn't eaten in a little over a week and wasn't quite sure what her stomach could handle, if much of anything.

But by the time Sin and Yunan finally stopped their fighting, which was around the time Yunan turned Sinbad's long blue hair a nice vivid eyesore orange, only to have Sin scoff and mutter that he could live with it. Causing the blond magi to finally tire of trying to terrorize him, and with a roll of his eyes, turn Sin's hair back to it's original color and then walk away annoyed by Sindria's king even more than before but unwilling to really give in to anymore of his more childish impulses.

Especially in front of the others and Aladdin.

He didn't want the girl thinking that his current incarnation was more childish than he actually was. Why if that happened, she would begin thinking that she couldn't count on him when the going got tough.

He sat down at the nearest end of the table located closest to Aladdin and had to resist the urge to pick something up and chuck it at Sinbad's head when the man began making faces at him until his advisor reached over and smacked him in the back of the head and hissed, "Knock it off! You're the king of a country, not a damned child, act your age already."

Sitting back in his seat Sinbad sighed at Ja-far's words and took a moment to compose himself before asking, "How is the food? Is it to your liking?"

Alice said nothing as she finished up half of her plate before putting her fork down and pushing her plate away a bit and asking, "W-What did you say your name was?" as she looked at both Yunan, and Sinbad.

Sin made a funny sound as he blanched slightly- it was a nervous reaction to not being known. The man always had to be the center of attention. Yunan thought almost disdainfully as he politely introduced himself and then introduced Sinbad as a 'womanizing, skirt chaser' which got various comical expressions and glares from the people at the table.

At which point, Ja-far jumped up and almost yelled at the magi in outrage.

"Yunan! Don't say such things about Sin. You came here wanting us to take care of her for you, well how can we do that if she avoids some of us because you have a low opinion of us?!"

Yunan blinked before then replying. "I have no real low opinion of anyone here. Sinbad, for all his faults is a remarkable man and king. Just as you- his generals are also remarkable people. I only said that as a joke." Which was half true. He was still annoyed with the self made king and was trying to get it all out of his system.

Besides, Sin never let such things go easily. Not without a retaliation of some kind.

And true to character, the man slyly drew Aladdin's attention and then said, "Yunan is just upset that I forgot his age. What was it Yu? Old as dirt or positively ancient?"

"If I could reach you right now, I'd throttle you." Yunan said with a grin. Sinbad smiled back at him and ignored his words. Apparently not wanting to take it for the threat it actually was.

It was right about then that Aladdin managed to speak again, her voice first sounding like a slight squeak as she looked between Sinbad and Yunan and frowned as she said, "You guys don't seem to like each other very much." She didn't mean anything by it. She was merely making an observation based on their arguing and such.

Still, the moment she said that, both men looked at her funny before Ja-far said gently, "That's not true. Sinbad and Yunan may not usually fight or argue like they have been doing in the past few minutes, but they are only able to fight and argue like they are because they _like_ each other. It's their way of bonding."

"Really?" Aladdin asked as she curiously tilted her head.

Sin cleared his throat and replied as delicately and honestly as he could, "Yes. I've known Yunan since I was a young boy. He was one of the first friends I really made. And despite our bickering, I'm quite fond of him."

"Ah. I see," Aladdin said softly before finally asking, "You seem to know me Mr. Yunan, so I suppose that any questions I have should be directed to you for now?"

Yunan blinked at her but then slowly nodded once her question finally registered and he replied, "Uh, yes. I'll answer what I can."

"What's my name?"

"Alice. But some of the orphans that you lived with as a child called you Aladdin." Yunan said, though he kept the fact that the name Aladdin had been given to her as a means for the other kids to insult her.

"I see. Which one do I usually answer to?"

"Both. Though more people called you Aladdin than Alice."

"How old am I?"

"Sixteen. You'll be seventeen next year on the thirteenth day of spring."

"What's my favorite color?"

"That's a trick question," Yunan said with a soft laugh. "You don't really have a favorite color. But you do occasionally like one color above all others. But most of the time it's a blue, different shades of purple, white, red or even black."

"Oh, okay. What else do you know about me?"

"I know quite a bit. I know that you are well educated, can play almost any musical instrument that you get your hands on regardless of any training. You also like writing, painting, cooking... I know that you used to have to pick pockets when the people at the orphanage kicked you out and you had to struggle a lot just to stay alive and whole and healthy. I know that you developed certain habits, and when you got older you began to use hand to hand fighting to earn money for a place to live despite the fact that you cried every time you won."

The room was eerily silent by this point, but Yunan didn't notice.

"I also know that some of the people you were pitted against tried to kill you once they knew who you were, and even though you were sad that that happened, you still didn't like fighting them. You even have a scar on your stomach where one of the people pitted against you- he had a sick daughter who was dying- you beat him and instead of simply taking the money and walking away, you let him stab you just so that you could hand your winnings to him. You helped save his little girl's life. And he would have thanked you, if he had survived the fight after that one."

"I know that you like little kids. You used to take care of the ones you found abandoned and such on the streets. You found them all homes, and people to take care of them and love them. You like to climb things when you need to think. The height and the view of the world around you helps to clear your mind and let you see what is going to happen next."

"You're funny, but rarely let that side of you show. You like lulling people into a false sense of security, so they underestimate you. You smile when shouldn't. You laugh at funerals, not to be insulting, I believe you said the reason was something like- _If I couldn't smile under even these circumstances, I'd be dead now_."

"You are difficult to read sometimes because you have become desensitized to many things that would disturb others. Pain doesn't bother you. You embrace it as much as you embrace your individuality. You hide pain well, especially the physical kind."

Reaching out Yunan snagged one of her arms in one of his hands and lifted it wrist up and stared at the puckered white skin of a scar that she had received once during a moment of weakness when she had slit her own wrists. One had scared whereas the other hadn't been deep enough.

Running a finger over the scar, he wordlessly drew everyone's attention to it. And the fact that she had tried to once kill herself.

"You are the kind of person to have pushed yourself more than any other person I've ever seen before. And just when I think your done, you've suffered or been broken enough, you always surprise me by picking yourself up, dusting yourself off and carrying on as if nothing has happened." He said as he slowly released her arm and allowing her to cradle it to her chest before saying lightly, "I think that's enough for now. You should try to eat a little bit more and then go back to bed to rest."

Aladdin looked down at her scarred wrist for a moment, and felt a strange pressure in the vicinity of her chest and simply excused herself from the table and went to lay back down.

She suddenly wasn't sure if she wanted to know anything else about herself. That and she didn't feel very hungry anymore.


	8. Chapter 8

Sinbad peered through the small crack that he had made in Aladdin's door, and looked at the small figured curled up in the middle of the large bed. For all intents and purposes, seemingly asleep. It had been two in a half days since he and the others had learned some very distressing things about his young guest and how she had grown up as well as certain aspects of her personality, that he was already worried over, and then left her alone after she had all but shut them out.

He had hoped that after a few hours of solitude that first day that she might have been feeling better.

But apparently he had been wrong.

If he had known how troubled the girl's past was before, he might not have been so pissed that she no longer had her memories. But then Yunan had told him even more disturbing news once they had left her bedroom.

Al-Thaman, the dark organization located in the heart of the Kou empire, the very same organization that had once destroyed his kingdom and killed so many of his dear friends...

They had _murdered_ her. He was absolutely certain of that now.

He hadn't been one hundred percent sure before, but when Yunan had been trying to explain himself and her memory loss and why it was a necessary thing, he had mentioned pulling her from the Sacred Palace. The place where magic, ruhk and the souls of the dead all seemed to congigate.

He had mentioned trauma of a severe kind.

Frankly Sinbad could think of no other trauma more severe than being killed by a bunch of maniacs.

He knew if his and Aladdin's role were in some way reversed, he would likely have lost his memory too. And while it did bother him to know that before Yunan had brought her to his kingdom, she had been dead- he wasn't exactly sure what disturbed him more.

The fact that Yunan had gone against the natural flow of fate to save her with his magic, or the fact that Yunan had warned him that if Al-Thaman ever found out that she was alive, they would come for her, and the blond magi had fiercely declared that if that should happen, he would murder everyone who dared to try and touched her and fall completely into depravity.

To say that he and everyone else had been shocked by the magi's words would be an understatement to say the least.

Everyone had felt as he did, shaken to the core, by Yunan's words.

Magi were not meant to ever kill others. Doing so corrupted their hearts and souls and turned their ruhk black. So black that it was like poison every time it was used- it did nothing but taint everything and every one around said person.

 _To think that my old friend would go so far just for the sake of one little girl..._ He didn't understand it. But then Yunan had said that Aladdin was important. Very much so. But important enough to snatch from the jaws of death, relocate and heal her?

Just who was this girl?

That was the question in most dire need of answering at the moment. And no. It wasn't just because of his curiosity about her.

He was filled with the need to know such information for many reasons. The safety of his kingdom and people, her safety and well being. And then the most troublesome things of all - how to hide her presence from Al-Thaman, and keep Yunan from falling into depravity?

But so far, he was drawing a _lot_ of blanks as to the answers.

Sighing softly, he gently closed Aladdin's bedroom door again and turned to find Ja-far standing in the hall just a few feet away with a slightly worried/guilty look on his handsome face as he hunched himself over a little bit to try and hide the food that he was bringing to her.

Sinbad blinked at him and stepped aside so that he could deliver the food and patiently waited for his friend to return from his task.

He didn't have to wait long.

Ja-far merely went in and placed the tray of food on the table that Yunan had left in her room for just such occasions like this. And while in there, the man took a moment to very gently rouse the sleeping girl and tell her the same thing that he had told her for the past day or so.

"Alice, it's lunch time. I've brought you something to eat just in case your hungry later. I'll return for the tray before dinner." After which she would nod her head to show that she had heard him and he would then leave her to her own vices again.

However since her first day in Sindria, she had yet to be coaxed into eating anything. Most of the time when someone checked on her, she was either fresh from the bath and dressed in her strange clothing, looking out the window of her room in a daze or she was simply sleeping.

She didn't speak. She didn't smile nor laugh, not even for some of his other generals whom had taken it upon themselves to try and bring her out of her shell with various gifts.

She didn't even ask Yunan anything more about herself when he came to sit with her. Something that had distressed the magi to the point of hysteria after that first day. And though the magi was okay at the moment, that was probably because he wasn't sitting with Aladdin right now.

"How is she?" Sin asked Ja-far as he slipped from her room and quietly closed the door behind him.

The younger man looked at him for a moment before heaving a sigh, "She's...okay, I suppose. But if this continues for much longer, she won't be."

"How much longer do you think she can keep this up?"

"I have no idea. I guess it all depends on how strong her body and will are." Ja-far replied, causing Sinbad to think to himself. _How strong could her body and will possibly be? She was at one time dead!_

However all he said was, "I see. Well come then, we'll give her some more time to herself to come to terms with things while we go and finish the paper work that's been piling up." Sinbad said as he pushed away from the wall and began walking as Ja-far gaped at his back, uncertain of what had just come out of Sin's mouth.

God knew he avoided paper work as if it were a plague!


	9. Chapter 9

Three days later, Sinbad was still buried neck deep in backed up paper work when he happened upon a missive with the Kou empire's royal crest sealing it closed, and scowled at it in displeasure before bothering to crack it open. Upon opening it, he took a moment to scan the carefully penned words scrawled across the paper before ripping it to pieces in anger.

That arrogant, pretentious bastard Ren Kouen was planning to visit his kingdom and stay a while to negotiate some new trade routes with him and some of his merchants.

And while that was nothing really out of the norm for Sinbad to have to deal with on a daily basis, the fact of the matter was that Kouen wasn't coming alone. He was bringing his two younger brothers Komui and Kouha with him to help.

And while that normally might not have bothered him, Sindria- and his relationship- with the Kou empire was strained and strenuous at best.

When of course they weren't fighting over territory, kingdoms, people, trade routes and of course other things.

Which brought him back to his most recent concern. Aladdin or Alice, rather, she still wasn't eating or speaking or- well, leaving her room at all really. Which could work in his favor as far as protecting her went, if not for the fact that her behavior would inevitably end and she would finally begin interacting with others again.

However Ren Kouen was a man known for his curiosity and thirst for knowledge almost as much as he was known for his ways of gaining access to such knowledge.

If he were to find Aladdin...what would happen?

It was more than obvious to many that the girl had secrets. And he worried that if Kouen got near enough to her to study her, that he might attempt to _pry_ those secrets out of her.

And in her current condition with no memory, well, he might become just a little bit... _frustrated_ with her.

Sighing, Sin sat back in his chair and laced his fingers together as he tried to think of a good way to keep Kouen and his brothers from encountering Aladdin, but come with little to nothing aside from restricting _someone_.

Frankly he didn't think it right to restrict Aladdin's movements within his palace _or_ his kingdom since she would be living there for an undisclosed amount of time. Whereas he didn't particularly care much for the Kou empire or it's royal family. In fact restricting them would be...wonderful.

Hell if he could put him in his palace dungeon- that would be excellent as well. But unfortunately, he couldn't do that for several reasons. One of which was, he wasn't even sure if his palace had a dungeon to begin with. And the second reason was, despite his dislike of the Kou empire's first prince and his brother's in general, he couldn't restrict the movements of Kouen or his brother's without making it seem as if he had something to hide.

Come to think of it, it had just dawned on him that the missive had been placed on his desk weeks ago. Which meant that... With an oath, he stood up and walked out of his study to find and assemble his generals to tell them of what would be happening, and to assign someone to watch Aladdin, just in case.

(**********************************************************************************************************************************)

Aladdin had woken up very early this morning feeling, for some reason, much better than before. Today she was actually feeling hungry, and maybe even a little bit sociable. Sitting up on her bed, she looked around for a moment before noting that the man that came by everyday must have come by earlier since there was a tray of food and a pitcher of something to drink on the table across the room.

She also noted that there was a weird looking sea shell and floral arrangement sitting in the middle of the table and wondered which of Mr. Yunan's and Mr. Sinbad's friends had brought _that_ monstrosity to her room?

It-It was simply outlandishly ghoulish!

It was so strange looking that for a moment she was afraid to turn her back on it in fear of it coming to life and eating her. Eyeing the arrangement for a moment, she stretched and then slowly climbed out of her bed and giggled softly the moment that her feet touched the cool stone floor.

Not really knowing what she was laughing about, but enjoying the sensation of the coolness of the smooth stone underneath her.

She was still caught up in her own little world when she heard a throat clear from the general vicinity of her window and lifted her head to see Mr. Yunan lounging there staring at her with those intensely watchful green eyes of his.

"Ah- Hello Mr. Yunan." Aladdin said as she blushed a bit in embarrassment. Yunan merely smiled at her before asking,

"Are you finally feeling better now?" Aladdin nodded her head a little bit, earning a much bigger smile from the blond as he said, "Good. Then what do you plan to do today? Stay in, sleep a bit more, or go out and have some fun exploring?"

"Is that an invitation for something?"

"Huh? Is what a what?" Yunan asked as he slowly climbed out of her window and into her room.

"Invitation. Did you just invite me to join you for something?" Yunan opened his mouth to say something, but abruptly closed it when he thought he felt his mind sputter to a halt.

It felt to him as if she had just inadvertently asked him out on a date. And while he wanted nothing more than to say 'YES, yes, yes!' and maybe even do a little happy dance- he didn't want her to think him weird. Besides, he wasn't the most graceful of people when dancing and he might trip over his own feet and render himself unconscious.

However he knew deep down that she hadn't just asked him out on a date. Aladdin was a fairly shy person until she got to know someone. The fact that she refused to refer to him as anything but Mr. Yunan spoke volumes.

Finally feeling his mind was back in working order, he said. "Uh, well, I was going to go out and look around the kingdom a bit in a little while. Would you like to come with me?"

Aladdin slowly nodded her head yes, and then asked, "Would it be okay if I ate and got cleaned up and changed first?"

"Sure. I can keep you company if you want."

"Okay, well I guess I should get started." Aladdin said as she walked towards the table where the food was sitting, waiting on her to consume it when she heard Yunan say,

"Uh...maybe we should cut your hair a little bit too, to make it easier to take care of while we're at it." Causing her to slow her steps and then stop altogether to look over her shoulder at her hair before making a thoughtful humming sound as she considered his words.


	10. Chapter 10

Barely an hour later-

Yunan and Aladdin left the palace via a levitation spell that took them well beyond the palace walls and off into the distance where the town was before it set down and then vanished in a spectacular display of pale green light. Leaving the two magi to their own vices for the time being.

"Come, I want to show you your new home Aladdin." Yunan said as he gently grasped the teen's wrist in his hand and tugged her along behind him as he started walking. Figuring that the town market was the perfect place to explore and kill some time, that was exactly where Yunan led Aladdin.

The two of them spent about two hours checking out various wares that were for sale, some of the things that they had happened across Yunan had bought for Aladdin.

Like one of Sindia's traditional dresses for young girls. A white fur lined black cloak for winter. A few necklaces and earrings and some bangle bracelets to use as accessories for some of the clothing and stuff that she had already.

And then after purchasing a chest to place everything in and using a spell to send it all to the palace, he then turned his attention to lunch. Given the fact that he and Aladdin had had a little bit of a late start, due to her long nap and the bath and hair cut that he'd given her- he figured by the placement of the sun in the sky that it was far closer to lunch time than he had first thought.

"Aladdin," He called out for her as he turned around to look at her only to pause when he found her gone. The space that she had occupied only a short time ago was empty and void of his little Aladdin. "Oh no! No, no, no, no!" Yunan said aloud in a slightly panicked tone as he twisted his body this way and that just to see if he could catch a glimpse of her.

Sadly though, his efforts were for nothing.

Aladdin was simply gone.

(*******************************************************************************************************************)

Kouen was walking through the market with his two brothers, Komui and Kouha, after having waited on Sinbad to come and greet him as was the custom for royals and dignitaries for well over four hours. _Four very long, and frustrating hours!_ All of which had been for nothing since the damned blasted man never bothered to show.

So after it was determined that Sinbad and none of his general's were coming to greet him and his brothers, he had gone back to the ship for just long enough to change his attire to that of a commoner, and let his hair down and shaved since it made it easier to move among the masses when he wasn't calling so much attention to himself.

And once he finished, he met the both of his brother's on the dock and then the three of them left to make their way through the town to the palace.

Half way there, they were about to stop for lunch when Kouen saw several men corner a small girl about his younger brother's age. He was about to turn away and leave the girl to her fate, deciding that it was simply for the best- however before he could look away the ruhk around the girl began to go into a frenzy of sorts.

The glittering white turning into something akin to a funnel that surrounded the girl almost protectively as one of the men reached for her only to pull back with a yelp when her ruhk seemed to burn his hand.

Hearing the man yelp in pain a mere moment before the other two caught on that something had happened and began to shout and curse at the girl, Kouen had begun moving without realizing it and was almost at the girl's side when he drew the sword that acted as his household vessel from it's sheath and used it to cut off the arm of one man, who automatically dropped to the ground clutching his severed appendage before running another though and then reaching through the ruhk (somehow without sustaining injury) and wrapped an arm around the young girl and pulled her tightly to his side and held her there as he stared down the third man and growled out.

"Leave or die." The man looked from him to the girl and then seemed to consider his words for a moment before he turned and ran off, leaving the girl in Kouen's hands. To be perfectly honest she was probably safer with him and his two brothers anyways.

Though as he looked down at her somewhat dazed expression, he wondered idly if she was even aware of that fact as he very slowly released her and then flicked his sword to rid it of the blood before re sheathing it and then saying, "That was a very peculiar trick you just pulled on those three men."

The girl blinked at him but said nothing. Probably because she was in shock from seeing at least one man lose an arm and another killed before her very eyes. So he tried a different tactic.

"Where is your family girl? Have they no sense to allow you to wander off?"

It was then that he got a reaction, though it was small. "I-I don't have any family. I was with Mr. Yunan-"

 _Yunan?_ Kouen's sharp mind latched onto the name as he stared down at the girl wondering why she would have been in the company of the magi. She didn't seem like a king's candidate to him, but from the display of ruhk earlier he couldn't be for certain.

"Yunan was with you."

"Y-Yes. Until those three grabbed me."

"Then you did not come with them willingly?" He asked, causing her to bristle slightly at the question. Apparently she found the fact that he even had to ask her such a thing, insulting. But it couldn't be helped. He wanted to make sure that he had all of his information straight, just in case.

"Of course not! What do you take me for? I have some self respect you know! Besides, I know very well what happens to young girls like me when they are grabbed by people like those! I'm not stupid!" She practically shouted at him, he inwardly cringed and held his hands up, palms out in a placating gesture in the hopes that she would calm down.

"Forgive my assumption. I meant no disrespect. Nor did I mean to imply anything." He said before going on to say, "I have also met and befriended your Yunan, and I know well that he is rather absent minded. So until he manages to track you down, it would be safer for you to stay close to myself and my two brother's." He said as he indicated towards where his brothers were standing, watching the exchange.

"My name is Kouen, and those are my younger brothers Komui and Kouha. What is your name little one?"

"Alice...though everyone simply calls me Aladdin."

"I see. And do you live near here miss Aladdin?"

"I live in the palace," Aladdin said before going on to explain, "Yunan brought me here to live as Mr. Sinbad's ward or something. Or at least I think that's why I was brought here. I actually have no real memories beyond a few days prior."

Kouen's eyes widened a little bit at this information. If what the girl had just told him was true, then it would seem as if Sinbad was once again up to his old tricks and amassing powerful new people. And this time at the behest of Yunan no less.

Just what the hell was going on here anyways? He wondered as he took the girl by the hand and slowly tugged her along behind him as he stepped over the dead man and his friend who was still whining about the loss of his arm. He would have gotten the girl away from there as soon as he could, however before they could completely step back out into the open she managed to tug her hand free of his grasp and went and knelt down in front of the man that was still alive.

Alarmed by her behavior, Kouen moved to go and grab her when he saw her ruhk fluttering about her again and wondered what she was doing as she placed her hands on the injured man's stub of a limb and closed her eyes as his arm slowly regenerated itself.


End file.
